Last weekend, some of our youngest parishioners attended Prayers & Pajamas, an overnight adventure in the church. How did we fill the time? By exploring hidden rooms, cooking tacos, making edible ornaments for birds on the Green, walking Connie, playing games, planning Compline, learning a hymn, drawing, hanging out, sleeping, reading and singing at the 7:45 AM Service, having an epic pillow fight, and baking muffins from scratch for the folks at Chapel on the Green. Whew!
Our 10:30 AM Service this Sunday features Family Eucharist upstairs in the Nave. Join us!
Trinity parishioners -- of any age -- are invited by Spirit Quest, our youth group, to join our free bus trip to Ephrata, PA, on Friday, June 26. We will be serving at MCC.org's Material Resource Center by creating kits of relief, hygiene or school supplies or working on a recycling fundraiser which helps them purchase items for the kits. After finishing at 2 PM, we will visit a local Amish market and also learn more about Mennonite and Amish communities. Questions? Contact Angela Arpino immediately and save your seat on the bus: Family@trinitynewhaven.org. We will leave Trinity Church at 6 AM and arrive home around 8 PM.
Trinity Book Group will be meeting at Deborah Johnson’s home on Tuesday May 26th at 3:00pm . We will be discussing North Woods by Daniel Mason. A multigenerational novel that tells the story of a house and its land in New England. Following the lives of its inhabitants - human and non-human - from Puritan times to the present.
If you wish to join us or to know more about Trinity book group please contact jenniferobriggs@gmail.com
Come see the Trinity Choristers in concert with the Haven String Quartet on May 16th, starting at 7:30pm at the Unitarian Society of New Haven. The Haven String Quartet and Music Haven’s Resident Pianist Jacob Wang perform Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet. Guest Composer and Violinist, Colin Jacobsen premieres his composition Rhapsody for choir and strings.
Three of our youngest parishioners (and their adults!) baked and decorated cakes, made homemade cards, sang "Happy Birthday," and served the cake to more than 100 people last Sunday at Chapel on the Green. This monthly Birthday Ministry is new to Trinity and all parishioners are welcome to volunteer. If you would like to help next month, reach out to Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org). Thank you, kids -- and your adults -- for your incredible service to this special Trinity community.
Saturday, May 9 | Festival takes place from 10am to 4pm
9am – Clean the Green (with Friends of the Green)
11am-1pm – Stained Glass Self-Guided Tours, with organ music accompaniment
More about Wake Up the Green:
The Proprietors of the New Haven Green invite the community to celebrate the arrival of spring at the Wake Up the Green Spring Festival. This vibrant, family-friendly, and leashed pet-friendly event will take place on the New Haven Green and will feature a variety of activities, entertainment, and shopping opportunities.
Trinity will participate in this event by hosting a special Clean the Green to prepare our shared space for this festival. We will also open the doors of our church from 11am to 1pm, offering pamphlets for self-guided tours of our beautiful stained glass windows, with music in the background from Trinity’s historic organ.
A special edition of Clean the Green is taking place on Sunday, May 17 at 9:30 AM. You and our youngest parishioners will join Trinity’s Friends of the Green Ministry as we pick up trash on the New Haven Green around Trinity as a way to give back to our community. All ages welcome. Special tools and supplies are provided (grabbers are also available in kids' size!). Meet on the steps of the church at 9:30 AM. Please wear closed-toe shoes. Questions? Contact Angela: Family@trinitynewhaven.org.
Pedals, Pipes, and Pizza! - designed for children but open to all ages. Join the New Haven Chapter of the American Guild of Organists to explore the pipe organs of Trinity on the Green and Center Church on the Green, followed by a pizza lunch at United Church on the Green. Beginning at 10 am on May 2nd at Trinity on the Green, ending around noon at United Church on the Green. Registration is free - please be in touch with Sarah Johnson for more details - registration required.
We are grateful that Clarke Mortensen, our current seminarian intern, will be continuing at Trinity in the coming year in the capacity of Chapel on the Green Interim Coordinator, starting this May. In this part-time role, Clarke will shepherd our weekly Chapel on the Green Program through administration, volunteer coordination, and collaboration with community partners. Clarke will work alongside Trinity’s clergy as we continue our mission at Chapel on the Green: providing spiritual care and material support to our unhoused and precariously housed neighbors on the New Haven Green, and bringing the experiences of those who are marginalized into the center of our worshipping community.
Clarke Mortensen is a seminarian at Yale Divinity School and a candidate to the priesthood in the Diocese of Ohio. She graduated from Kenyon College in 2020 with a B.A. in English and proceeded to work in all sorts of roles before seminary, from campus ministry to substitute teaching to farm education. Having spent the past academic year interning at Trinity, Clarke is excited to join the staff and continue to grow with this community.
Clarke will start in the role of COTG Interim Coordinator on May 12, and can be reached at cotg@trinitynewhaven.org after that date. In the meantime, outreach questions can be directed towards Rev. Heidi Thorsen (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org).
Rev. Luk and Angela want to hear the hopes and dreams of parents in our community at this special gathering during Coffee Hour this Sunday. Join us in the Library.
On Sunday May 3 we will celebrate James Thomas and his decade long ministry at Trinity in service of so many people downtown New Haven. James has been working at Trinity since 2014 and stepped into a ministry position in 2016 to respond to the spiritual and social needs of people on the Green and beyond. His personal witness and his rootedness in Christ remained an inspiration to so many. Over the years, James provided assistance in finding housing, rehab and recovery programs, food access, or a supportive community. We are very grateful for all that James has shared with our Trinity community.
On Sunday May 3 we will offer a special prayer and blessing to James, now that he is retiring from his job at Trinity. During coffee hour we will celebrate his ministry with conversation and cake.
Contributions to a purse in honor of James can be sent to our parish office by cash, check, or wire transfer. For questions please contact our Office Manager, Kyle Picha kpicha@trinitynewhaven.org.
Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of minister James: Grant him your blessing on the path of service, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
An Evening of Song at Trinity on the Green
Join us for a truly uplifting musical experience as Chelsea Berry, acclaimed singer-songwriter and powerhouse vocalist, takes the stage alongside the Trinity Choristers for a one-night-only concert at Trinity on the Green.
Chelsea Berry’s music has been described as heartfelt, dynamic, and deeply evocative, a blend of folk, indie, and expressive songcraft drawn from over two decades on the road. With a voice praised for its emotional depth and magnetic presence, Chelsea has performed coast-to-coast, shared the stage with legendary artists, and built a devoted audience through intimate storytelling and masterful live performance.
This special concert brings together Chelsea’s signature sound and the rich choral tradition of the Trinity Choristers, creating an unforgettable evening where contemporary songwriting meets timeless harmony.
About Chelsea Berry
Chelsea Berry is a Maine-based singer-songwriter known for her commanding vocals and compelling stage presence. Over her 25-year career, she’s released numerous albums and EPs, with her music featured on Sirius XM’s The Loft and played across radio stations nationwide. Chelsea’s performances draw listeners in “like moths to a flame,” blending poetic lyrics, soaring melodies, and heartfelt storytelling.
This Sunday, we will collect your box of coins and bills benefiting Laundry Love and have them blessed during the offertory. Thank you to those who participated in this important way to pray during Lent.
Dividing our large Children's Chapel group into two is working well thanks to the volunteer leaders who have stepped up to teach! As we head into the Spring and Summer, you are invited to help our youngest parishioners learn about our faith and deepen their relationship with God and the Bible. You choose one Sunday a month when you can teach and the age group with which you're most comfortable: the younger or older. Angela provides the lesson by Thursday prior and all materials. Contact her at Family@trinitynewhaven.org with questions or to sign up. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
Sundays at 9:30am in the Undercroft Library (April 19 – May 17)
Starting in April (National Poetry Month), our Eastertide adult education series will feature different presenters leading a conversation about a poem that has shaped their faith journey. Join us!
April 19
The Rev. Charles Lemert
“Father Son and Holy Ghost” by Audre Lorde
April 26
The Rev. Luk De Volder
“Mending Wall,” by Robert Frost
May 3
Jessica Dwelle
“Descending Theology: Christ Human,” by Mary Karr
May 10
Andrew Smyth
“Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Haydn
May 17
Clarke Mortensen
“Ode: Intimations of Immortality” by William Wordsworth
Thank you, Wednesday Club, for filling the 500+ eggs that filled the church on Easter Morning. And thank you to the volunteers and Spirit Questers who helped set up the Scramble during Coffee Hour. So many children had so much fun! A blessed Easter Season to all our Trinity families! (Photos by Kyle Picha)
Youth aged 8-14 years old are invited to this overnight Trinity adventure! We play, pray, eat, and serve others while spending the night at church. Please RSVP by April 27 to Simon, Sarah, or Angela.